The Ford Performance GT will make its debut on an Aussie track at Mount Panorama.
It”s one of the most advanced race cars Ford has ever built and will certainly be the fastest Ford to ever lap the Mountain.
Driven by Aussie Ryan Briscoe, a full-time Ford Chip Ganassi Racing driver, the Le Mans-winning Ford GT will turn its first wheel in anger at the world-famous 6.213km circuit as a prelude to this year’s Bathurst 1000.
“We’re excited to have the opportunity to put this amazing race car on such an iconic circuit,” Ford Australian and New Zealand President and CEO, Kay Hart, said.
“Innovation through design and engineering drives Ford Performance, and where better than Bathurst to introduce the Ford Performance GT to Australians.”
The Ford GT made history with its triumphant debut at the Le Mans 24 hour, claiming victory 50 years on from the Ford’s crushing 1-2-3 finish in the 1966 race.
Ford Performance will support the Mustang’s entry into the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, which kicks off in March at the Adelaide 500.
The car is the culmination of years of Ford innovation in aerodynamics, lightweight carbon fibre construction and ultra-efficient EcoBoost engines.
It serves as a test bed for new technologies and advanced lightweight materials that will benefit future Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electric vehicles.
“To have such an iconic vehicle in the Ford GT here – a car with strong success in some of the world’s greatest races – is something Australian fans will love, and it shows how highly regarded Bathurst is globally, and by Ford and Ford Performance,” Supercars CEO, Sean Seamer, said.
“To have Ryan, an Aussie who has driven with us many times at Bathurst, Sandown and on the Gold Coast, is the icing on the cake.”
The challenging layout will be another to add to the Ford GT’s list of iconic tracks, which has seen Briscoe and co-driver Richard Westbrook three-time winners so far this season — following victory in Canada, Road America and the 2018 Rolex 24-hour at Daytona.
Despite the familiarity with both the Ford GT and the circuit, putting the two together for the first time means that the Mountain will provide a fresh challenge for the Australian.
The Ford Performance GT will be in action during the Supercars Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, held over October 3-6, 2018.
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